Yes Minister star John Nettleton dies aged 94
YES Minister and Casualty star John Nettleton has died aged 94.
The actor was best known for portraying top civil servant Sir Arnold Robinson in the popular TV political satire and again in its sequel Yes, Prime Minister in the 1980s.
Talent agents Scott Marshall Partners said: “It is with great sadness that we announce the death of our beloved client and much-loved stage and screen actor John Nettleton.”
They added yesterday: “He is survived by his wife Deirdre, three children and five grandchildren.”
Nettleton’s character Sir Arnold was the Cabinet Secretary in the three series of Yes
Minister before he handed the reins to Sir Humphrey Appleby and became President of the Campaign for Freedom of Information in its follow-up. Born in London on February 5, 1929, Nettleton later played a Tory MP in hit sitcom The New Statesman, with Rik Mayall.
He also appeared in detective dramas Midsomer Murders and Foyle’s War as well as medical series Casualty.
Cabinet
His last role was in 2010 as the narrator of The Kingdom and the Beast, two years after he had played Mr Macavoy in TV series Kingdom alongside Stephen Fry, Celia Imrie, Hermione Norris and Phyllida Law.
He also had a leading role in the BBC’s 1987 seaside drama East Of Ipswich, which was written by Monty Python star Sir Michael Palin. In the 1960s and 1970s, Nettleton read illustrated stories about historical subjects on BBC’s Blue Peter.
On stage he featured in many productions for the Royal Shakespeare Company and the Old Vic. His roll call included Harley Granville-Barker’s The Voysey Inheritance and an adaptation of The Wind In The Willows at the National Theatre.
Nettleton is the latest leading actor from Yes Minister to pass away. Paul Eddington, who was Cabinet minister and later PM Jim Hacker, died from skin cancer in 1995, aged 68. Sir Nigel Hawthorne (Sir Humphrey) died from a heart attack in 2001, at 72, and Derek Fowlds (principal private secretary Bernard Woolley) died in 2020 at 82.